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Chart using gumdrops, toothpicks teaches kids about greenhouse gases
By Kathy Antoniotti
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Aug 09, 2008
You might hear adults use phrases such as ''going green,'' ''reducing carbon footprints'' and ''sustainable energy.''
While the terms might be confusing, they are used by people who are concerned with protecting the environment from greenhouse gas emissions.
Everyone has a carbon footprint — including kids. It is the impact your activities have on climate change and relates to the amount of greenhouse gases you help produce every day by your behavior. Technically, it measures the amount of carbon dioxide you help create.
If the atmosphere contains too much of these gases, the whole Earth becomes hotter, like it does in a greenhouse. The atmosphere holds on to too much heat at night, instead of letting it escape into space.
Over a period of years, the greenhouse effect starts to cause climate changes and affects weather. It can cause more severe storms in some places and drought in others.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, formed on Oct. 1, 1958, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. In those 50 years, NASA has been gathering facts about Earth as part of its mission.
In 2004, NASA launched the Aura satellite in its Earth Observing System program that studies the atmosphere from about 20 miles high down to the Earth's surface. One of its instruments measures chemical matter and, in particular, ozone in the atmosphere. By using different colors, the instrument shows the highest levels of ozone appear on surfaces near large cities in the United States.
Use gumdrops to make a chart to explain the makeup of greenhouse gases that affect the Earth using instructions I found at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/tes/gumdrops. The gumdrops represent the atoms that make up molecules, the tiny structures that make up matter.
Supplies you will need:
• 1 sheet of cardboard.
• Gumdrops in four colors.
• Toothpicks.
• Felt pen.
• White glue.
Write the phrase ''Greenhouse Gases'' across the top of the cardboard.
Make a key to explain what atom the gumdrop colors represent. Using the photo for placement, make a box showing: a red gumdrop for oxygen atoms, white for hydrogen atoms, blue for carbon atoms and green for nitrogen atoms.
Build your molecules by combining the gumdrop ''atoms'' with toothpicks. Glue them to the sheet and label the ''molecules'' you have created below.
This combination of atoms make up greenhouse gas molecules: combine three red atoms to make ozone, (O2); two green gumdrops to a red one for nitrous oxide (N20); two reds to a blue for carbon dioxide (CO2); two white to a red for water vapor (H2O); four white to a blue for methane (CH4).
Kathy Antoniotti writes a craft column for the Beacon Journal. If you have a craft idea or question, contact Kathy Antoniotti, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron OH 44309-0640; 330-996-3565; or via e-mail at kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com.
You might hear adults use phrases such as ''going green,'' ''reducing carbon footprints'' and ''sustainable energy.''
Get the full article here.
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